Be Damned
by 0re0C00ki35.xo
Summary: "You can break me soul, take my life away, beat me, hurt me, kill me. But for the love of God. Don't. Touch. Him." OR Someone from Oliver's past comes back with a vengence, and Barry gets caught in the crossfire.


Oliver doesn't even remember how it happened. Well he does, but it's like he's numb to it.

He had gone down to Central City for a few days to help Barry with a criminal who appeared to be from Star. He definately didn't find out about that during his stay, which was definately not to see Barry - his definately not boyfriend.

The criminal was pretty much a traditional burgalar, but he had outwitted the Arrow before, who had soon taken him down. But the man had pledged vengence on the Green Arrow seeing as Oliver was forced to kill the man's partner, whom had shot at a civillian.

The guy was good at what he did, and the fact he was in Central instead of taking his revenge in Star City concerned both heroes.

Earlier...

"Does he know who you are, Ollie?" Barry had asked while they were walking along a hallway in S.T.A.R Labs.

"I hope not, but the guy's good, and he may have figured it out."

"So then why would he be here? Not that I'm complaining that he isn't trying to hurt you."

"I have a few ideas, none of which I like. And all of which I'll stop."

"Like what?"

"He knows about our partnership, he knows we're friends. Hell, he may even know we're more. And he could try to use that against me. It would be the perfect redemption."

"You mean me? He might be here to hurt me?" Barry swallowed nervously.

"Hey." Oliver stopped, turned to look at Barry and cupped the younger man's face, "Look at me. I am NEVER going to let that happen. He won't go near you. I won't let him. I'll kill him first." The older man growled.

"Is killing really the answer here, Ollie?"

"When it comes to you, it's too much of a risk to keep him alive when he wants to exact his revenge on me."

"But-" Barry protested.

"I'll try not to, Barry, but with you in the crossfire, I make no promises."

And they had continued walking in silence.

That, was 2 hours ago. Now here they were. The criminal had managed to grab hold of Barry after ambushing both heroes who were on the hunt for him. The man now had an arm hooked around Barry's collarbone, and a knife too close to Barry's waist then Oliver would prefer. Oliver stood infront of the men, an arrow already aimed and ready to release, but he remained hesitant, for the man had Barry.

Oliver's breathing was laboured, and his chest felt tight and the air felt hot, he was scared. So fucking scared.

"Let him go." Oliver growled. He was pissed too.

The man holding Barry tutted, "Now, now Queen, where the fuck are your manners?" He smirked, "And yes, Queen, I know who you are, and I know who this young man is aswell!" He continued, and used the hand holding the knife to remove Barry's mask. "Barry Allen! Yeah, I did my research."

"Ollie I-" Barry tried to speak but the man put the knife to his throat before he could finish the sentence.

"Shut up, kiddo. Don't want to have to kill you quicker then I intend to." And Barry swallowed hard.

"I said, Let. Him. Go." Oliver growled louder this time. But the man just laughed at his antics.

"Wow, you really do care about him!" The guy grinned.

He leaned in closer to Barry's ear, his hot breath causing Barry to shiver. He used the hand with the knife as he dragged calloused fingers down Barry's side delicately, however Barry still flinched away at the unwanted contact.

"And I can see why." The man said darkly. He began kissing and biting Barry's ear. The younger man gasped and tried to move away, only for the hand around his collar to grab his jaw and force him to stop moving.

Oliver saw red. The man was touching his Barry. He shouted once more "Let Him Go! Final Warning!"

The man stopped what he was doing and looked up at Oliver, noticing the feral look in his eyes, he laughed again. "So me doing this," the man started to kiss Barry's neck, making Barry gasp in fear and start struggling against the man's hold, "is what makes you tic, huh?"

"Don't." Oliver said simply. He gave up with the threats. What could he do anyway?

"Don't what?" The man asked, ready for the answer.

"Don't hurt him." Oliver began pleading, he lowered his weapon to the ground, suddenly feeling very vunerable without it. He raised his hands in surrender slightly, his heart clenching at each one of Barry's gasps or breathless, 'no'.

The man smirked again, lifting his head from Barry's neck to look at Oliver, and Oliver was glad that the man's attention was away from the younger man. For now.

"Wow, do you see this shit? Look at how pathetic you've become in a matter of moments! Damn, there is something going on here isn't there? Something special. Give me one good, valid reason why I should let him go, Queenie, and I - being the reasonable man that I am - just might consider." The man chuckled at the control he has over the vigilante.

"You're mad at me, you want me dead. I get that. I killed your friend-"

"Best. Friend." The man's eyes flashed with fury, and Oliver's breath hitched. He was treading on very thin ice.

"-best friend. That was all me. Take it out on me, be mad at me, kill me. But please, just don't hurt him. He has nothing to do with this, let him go. I'm begging you." Screw it, Oliver lost his pride the moment Barry got caught in the crossfire.

"Ollie, no!" Barry shouted, afraid that the man actually might consider. He clamped his mouth shut immeadiately when the man threaded a rough hand through his hair and yanked it back, using the other hand to hold the knife against his throat. He hissed in his ear, "I said shut up, pretty boy!" Oliver visably tensed.

The mans' focus moved to Oliver, giving Oliver momentery relief that he was no longer concerntrating on Barry - that was something.

"No no no... Ollie..." the man chuckled. Oliver felt sick, that name was only allowed to be used by Barry or Thea. Not him - it sounded... sour. "I don't think you're getting the point. See, an eye for an eye means fair trade. You killed my best friend, my partner, it is only fair that I kill yours... but... I feel like there is more to you both then I'm aware of." Barry tensing and Oliver's fists clenching were enough answer for him. He glanced back and forth between both 'heroes'.

And suddenly, it clicked.

"Wait, are you two...Hot Damn! Isn't this a nice surprise! What a twist! Things just got interesting..." and the man cackled.

He actually cackled.

"So that's why me doing this makes you tick! Because he's yours!"

And then, he went back to kissing Barry's neck, biting and sucking dramatically. His hand holding the knife moved to Barry's stomach, and starting *massaging* a little too low down for Barry's comfort. When the zipper sounded, and Barry gasped in complete fear, Oliver wanted to kill him. Tear him apart limb from limb. The younger man's trembling lip caused his bloodlust to intestify and his feral side to erupt, but he had to swallow it, because Barry could get hurt.

At that point, Barry was terrified. The man knew too much. And he was touching him. He hated it, he felt defenceless and vunerable. So, he let his fear take over. Without caring about the knife by his ribs, he released his grip on the man's bicep and elbowed him as hard as he could. The man groaned and hunched over, reflexively releasing his grip on Barry's hair, giving the younger man a chance to get away.

He backed up a few steps, panting silently. His heart was hammering. Oliver went to make a move towards him, but he raised his hand to stop him, it was too risky with the man in the same room. It would make one target.

Said man rose up, looking at Barry with a burning, lustful, fury, which made Barry shiver. The man pulled out a gun from his back pocket, which caught both Oliver and Barry off guard. He pointed it towards Barry, "You son of a bitch!" He shouted.

"Ollie!" Barry shouted, knowing that the vigilante had to get to cover.

And the man fired 7 rounds at Barry.

"Bear!" Oliver shouted in fear.

The younger man raised his hands, catching all the bullets in his hands which were also sheilding his face. Silence echoed around the room, aside from Barry's panting and the sudden clinking sounds from when Barry shakily dropped all the bullets.

Oliver picked up his weapon, red clouding his vision. He fired again and again and again at the man's chest, enjoying the coughing and choking of blood which had erupted on the man's fearful face. He fell to his knees, his pain stricken face turned into a twisted smile, his eyes calm but crazy, as he choked out his final words.

"You can't protect him forever, Queenie."

And with that, he fell foward, eyes loosing their light at his final exhale sounded in silence.

Oliver dropped his bow, turning to look at Barry, who's arms we shaking and legs were about to buckle beneath him. Oliver rushed to his side and caught him just as his legs gave out and lowered them both to the ground. He hooked an arm around Barry's waist and rested his chin ontop of his forehead, using his remaining gloved hand to comb through Barry's hair.

"Ollie-" Barry whispered, choking on a sob.

"Shh... I'm here, I've got you. You're safe. I'm right here. It's okay." He whispered soothingly. His pride still hadn't returned.

"He was gonna... he tried to-" Barry said breathlessly. And Oliver growled.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry." The vigilante said lowly.

"Why are you sorry?" Barry looked up in confusion.

"This is my fault. He wanted revenge on me and then he-"

"I chose to be here. That was my choice." Barry said firmly. "Not yours."

Oliver sighed, shaking his head, "Barry, I should've protected you. I should've stopped him. And for that I'm sorry."

Barry smiled, "I'm still here aren't I?"

"That's not the point Bear, and you know it." He snapped.

Barry frowned again, "Then what is the point?"

"All I'm saying is that, you're my weak spot. People out there who want to hurt me, can. They can break my soul, take my life away, beat me, hurt me or even kill me. But God, if they so much as touched you, I don't even know what I'd do. I..." Oliver's words died in his mouth before he shook his head once more.

"You... what?" Barry asked.

"I... I love you Barry. And I can't lose you. Ever. And the people out there, they know that. They all know that." He said quietly.

Barry looked up at Oliver, "You love me?"

They held each others gaze, finishing the rest of the conversation through their eyes.

Always.

Barry laughed, before closing his eyes and tucking his face between Oliver's head and shoulder and whispering, "Can we go home? Joe and the rest of CCPD will be here soon."

Barry's breath tickled Oliver's neck as he replied, "Yeah, whatever you want." As he went to pick Barry up, the younger man stopped him before a sudden gust of wind surrounded them both. Then, they were inside Joe's house. Oliver sighed at Barry's antics. "Really, Barry? You're the one hurt here."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not."

"Ollie-"

"Barry." And then it was Barry's turn to sigh. He turned away from Oliver, afraid of judgement because of his next words.

"Fine. I was scared. And he started to touch me and I knew I couldn't stop him and I was helpless and I was scared. I should've been able to protect myself, protect you. But I couldn't. And so I was scared." He said a little too loudly, before muttering under his breath, "I still am."

But it was loud enough for the vigilante to hear.

Barry suddenly found himself surrounded by a large pair of arms, he gasped, remembering the Man from earlier, before relaxing and leaning into the arms that belonged to Oliver.

"It's okay to be scared, Barry. You know that? I was scared tonight. I've been scared before. Hell, I'm scared every time I step out into the field. It is human to be scared, Bear. And that's okay. Okay?"

"Okay." Barry mumbled. He turned around and hugged Oliver back. They stayed there long enough for the doors to slam open.

Oliver immeadiately turned around to push Barry behind him, reaching for his bow, before realising it was only Joe West. However, he still seemed pissed. Concerned, but pissed.

"What the hell happened tonight? Are you both okay? Bear?" He growled.

"I'm fine Joe." The man stepped out from behind the other.

Joe stalked up to Oliver, "Why did you kill him? Why like that?"

"I-"

"He was protecting me. The man tried to kill me, and he acted. It just happened. I'm sorry, Joe." Barry stepped in.

"Why did he try to kill you if he was after Oliver?" The man still glared at the Arrow.

"Oliver killed his partner to save someone, I guess he must've thought revenge would be fitting if he killed Ollie's." Barry replied.

Joe finally turnt to Barry, only concern shining in his eyes, "Are you okay? Did he hurt you? What happened?"

"I'm fine. Ollie saved me in time. He just threatened to kill me in front of Oliver. Nothing else. I'm okay, Joe. I promise." Barry started towards Joe, only for his father figure to pull him in for a tight hug. Oliver stood on the sidelines awkwardly.

After a moment, they broke the hug, and the detective turned to Oliver, holding out a hand for the other to shake.

"Queen, thanks for protecting my son today."

Oliver took his hand, smiling, "Don't thank me, I'll always protect him, whether you want me to or not."

Barry snorted slightly.

After Joe bid his goodnights to both boys and shot upstairs, the remaining two got changed into comfortable clothing before cuddling on the couch and watching some pointless TV show.

"Oh, and Ollie?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

The rest of the night was spent in a comforting silence.

Hours later, Oliver was slowly caressing Barry's back while the younger man slept, his head resting on Oliver's chest and legs curled up in a ball infront of him, safely tucked in the older man's embrace.

The vigilante couldn't stop thinking about the man's last words. "You can't protect him forever, Queenie."

It frightened him, because it was true. He barely protected the only light in his life tonight. And that wasn't even the worst thing they've faced. But, looking down at his lifeline now... he smiled and kissed him on the forehead, careful not to rouse him.

He closed his eyes and fell in a blissful sleep.

He may not be able to protect Barry forever, but he'll be damned if he wasn't going to die trying.


End file.
